New schools emerging in District Central

The Elixir School is one such institution which opens its doors to students in August

KARACHI: In a city where most good schools are located in well-to-do neighbourhoods of Defence and Clifton, a new trend has started under which entrepreneurs and educationists are getting together to open good quality schools in District Central.

Till now, parents who wanted to give their children good quality education were forced to admit them in schools that were several kilometres away. "Our daily run both ways would be in excess of 50 kilometres," recalled Umair Ahmad, who lives in Federal B Area and whose children were schooled at a premier institution of learning located in Defence Phase VIII.

District Central comprises North Nazimabad, New Karachi, Liaquatabad and Gulberg.

One such school that has recently opened its doors is The Elixir School, which is located in the heart of North Nazimabad in Block G, behind the Hyderi market. Despite being located in a built up area, Elixir has enough space to house classes and play fields, separate fields for teaching children horticulture, agriculture and sustainability, even horse stables and a mini zoo, in the near future.



It is not just the space offered that attracts parents to this school. "We are looking at providing an alternate form of learning that is popular in other parts of the world but sadly not in these parts," said educationist Almas R Khan, who is overseeing Elixir's evolution along with Mehr Fatima and Tauqir H Rehmani.

The school has come up with novel approaches. It is run entirely on solar power, for one. It has an aviary as well, where hundreds of birds are reared and will be part of an entrepreneurship project for students of the higher classes. There is emphasis on physical education, which includes a gymnastic, taekwondo and a yoga programme conducted by experts. Students will also benefit from a creative writing programme overseen by a New York University PhD scholar and journalist. Nazra -e-Quran, foreign language programmes and arts are a few of the many other programmes being offered.

The parents who come to Elixir appreciate the new approach taken at the school, which opens its doors from the first week of August , catering to students from nursery to O' Levels, with plans to extend to A' Levels in the future. While there are hundreds of schools in this area, there are a few that offer the promise of education that Elixir does.

Rehan Khwaja one of the main sponsors of the school and a successful businessman, clarified that the educational institution is not a business proposition. It is expected, he said, that the school will set the trend for more such initiatives in the other parts of Karachi. Bilal Khwaja, who is also part of the sponsors, reiterated this belief. Such schools bring out the potential and calibre of the youth in Karachi, he said.

Apart from this project, there are few schools that offer such facilities in District Central. There are traditional schools that continue to offer standard curriculum, say observers.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2016.